Director Jesse Yeh says Jar Jarâ€™s overstated mannerisms and physicality make him a natural for THE CLONE WARSâ€™ animated format.

â€œJar Jarâ€™s looks, expressions and his characteristic personality allow us to animate him to levels of exaggeration that really stand out from the other human characters or two-legged creatures,â€ Yeh says.

â€œTo me, his character is almost right out of the classic Disney or Warner Bros. cartoons. He is not always completely â€˜there,â€™ he is clumsy and he seems to have a talent for making mistakes that really matter â€“ sometimes in a constructive way, sometimes in a destructive way. I think itâ€™s easy to be attracted by his innocent, childlike, naive side. Heâ€™s like a loveable, well-meaning friend â€“ one you donâ€™t want around when itâ€™s a matter of life and death. But once youâ€™ve lived through the crisis, you definitely want to invite him to the celebration party.â€

Yeh directs action and comedy with equal skill, but he says itâ€™s easier to find inspiration for the latter in his daily activities.

â€œIf you pay more attention to the people around you, you will realize thereâ€™s a funny side to everyone â€“ no matter who that person normally appears to be,â€ Yeh says. â€œI actually did put in a lot of â€˜everydayâ€™ gags into the episode, and some of the reactions Jar Jar has were actual reflections of people whom I know in real life. But I am not telling who they are, of course.â€

Writer Kevin Rubio (creator of Dark Horseâ€™s â€œTag & Binkâ€) says he had fun crafting the first episode of the series that is driven by humor, and feels Jar Jar was the perfect character to anchor the episode.

â€œI wanted to find a middle ground between the funny side of Jar Jar and heroic redemption,â€ Rubio says. â€œHe is a fish out of water, and, yeah, he can be goofy and stupid, but in context, it works.

â€œThereâ€™s a phrase that I think applies to almost every episode that Iâ€™ve seen, and I know it influenced me on this episode. It appears in the prologue to the original Star Wars novelization: â€˜They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes.â€™ I think that says it all for Jar Jar.â€